Researchers assigned 2,977 with type 2 diabetes at high risk for heart disease to intensive blood-sugar lowering or current treatment. The participants were 55 to 80 years old. Intensive blood sugar lowering meant reducing blood sugar to less than 6 percent as measured by an A1c test. The current standard is to maintain blood sugar at between 7 and 7.5 percent. Although acupuncture is very safe overall, improving the quality of needles can make it even safer, said the authors of the study, which was published online Feb. 12 in the journal <i>Acupuncture in Medicine</i>. Bleeding, heart attack and heart failure were the most common fatal side effects noted in the clinical trials. In addition, liver failure was also reported, according to the report published in the Feb. 6 edition of the <i>Journal of Clinical Oncology</i>.

FRIDAY June 25, 2010 -- A compound found in red wine and grapes inhibits the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) associated with eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, researchers have found. The findings, published Aug. 5 in <i>Nature Medicine</i>, were later confirmed in breast and ovarian tumors. The study authors say the insight might help explain why cancer often develops resistance to chemotherapy over time. It might also point to treatments that might help block that resistance. How could people have signs of Alzheimer's, but not have symptoms? That's not clear, Josephs said. But, maybe people who have plaques and tangles don't develop symptoms unless they also have TDP-43, the researchers hypothesized. THURSDAY Nov. 14, 2013 -- Bending to political pressure, President Barack Obama on Thursday announced a plan to allow Americans to keep their health insurance plans for another year, even if that coverage would have been cancelled because it fails to meet new rules under the Affordable Care Act.